Conventional door hinges on automobiles have a number of problems. As is well known, such conventional systems hinge the door at the front of the edge and swing the door outwards through a horizontal arc which brings the rear edge of the door quite distant from the vehicle body. A spring action which assists in the opening of the door attempts to push the door open to substantially the full distance it is capable of opening. Opening the door in this fashion results in either the door's rear edge hitting whatever the vehicle is stopped next to or else requires the user to “fight” the door continuously as they get out of the vehicle, to prevent the door from reaching the full extension outwards. Since vehicles quite often end up parked next to either another vehicle or an abrasive concrete surface, allowing the door to swing out and impact the object next to the vehicle is distinctly undesirable.
Even when the user is not forced to limit the door's motion to a safe degree (for example, when the vehicle is parallel parked or parked next to an empty parking spot), the door itself is usually partially in the way of the user. Typically, the door opens somewhat less than 90 degrees and has a substantial width and a fair number of projections such as interior door handles, knobs, window controls, etc. The result is that around one half of the available arc beside the vehicle is covered by the door, making entry and egress a bit more difficult. Occasionally, a user may be blocked from even reaching the vehicle's entryway by the body of the door, for example, when the door is already open and the user approaches the vehicle from the front. Either the door must be partially or wholly closed to allow the user to squeeze past, then reopened to allow entry, or the user must walk around the vehicle the other direction.
Given the omnipresence of traffic, such diversions from simple entry are dangerous to users, and when a vehicle is parallel parked, a projecting door on the driver's side of the vehicle becomes an obstacle and danger to traffic. The projecting door itself is also in danger of being struck and damaged by passing traffic.
One possible solution to the horizontally hinged door is the vertically hinged door. Certain expensive types of automobiles have frames custom designed to support vertically hinged doors. Such doors are hinged to swing straight upwards at opening, in an arc in one dimension. However, it is normally necessary to implement such doors at the time the vehicle frame is designed, so as to allow for a frame which does not impede the top of door when it moves vertically.
Various references have been made of record in the parent application to this application.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,777,728 issued Jan. 15, 1957 to Barenyi for MOTOR VEHICLE ACCESSIBLE BY MEANS OF A PIVOTAL CAP teaches a one dimensional hinge in which the entire cab of the vehicle rotates in one plane of motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,870,361 issued Mar. 11, 1975 to Krause for HINGED SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILE DOORS WITH HINGE HALVES WELDED TO BODY AND DOOR teaches a one dimensional hinge in which the vehicle door rotates in one plane of motion. This patent also teaches an eccentric bushing allowing adjustment of the door hinge to achieve a tight fit; details of the structure of the bushing are different from the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,238,876 issued Dec. 16, 1980 to Monroe et al for METHOD FOR CONVERTING HARD TOP VEHICLES TO REMOVABLE TOP VEHICLES teaches non-analogous devices for sealing a vehicle roof to a car body. No hinges are discussed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,684,167 issued Aug. 4, 1987 to Newmayer for ROOF HINGED DOOR APPARATUS teaches a one dimensional hinge allowing rotation of a vehicle door in one plane of motion. The hinge is located at the top of the door, not the front, and the form of rotation would necessarily involve a large and undesirable swing outwards away from the vehicle body, making opening the door impossible when parked close to another vehicle or other obstruction.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,082 issued May 7, 1991 to Landmesser for DOOR HINGING SYSTEM teaches a vertically opening door which moves in a single plane of motion on a substantial support arm located somewhere on the auto body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,208 issued Sep. 7, 1993 to Ohya for STRUCTURE OF A BODY OF AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE teaches not one but two single plane hinges which move a portion of the car door in a single plane vertically upwards and a second portion of the car door in a second single plane in the normal fashion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,720 issued Nov. 16, 1993 to Lomax, Jr. et al for VERTICALLY MOVING CAR DOOR teaches a rear hatch which slides upwards in a single plane of motion, on rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,921,611 issued Jul. 13, 1999 to Townsend for UPWARDLY RETRACTING VEHICLE DOOR also teaches a rear hatch which rotates upwards in a single plane of motion, on rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,918 issued Nov. 20, 1999 to Gobart et al for BI-FOLD GULL WING VEHICLE DOOR teaches a design in which the vehicle door only rotates in one plane but actually folds up in the middle, that is, it has two sets of hinges, one set at the top of the door and one set in the middle of the door itself to provide the fold.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,256 issued Mar. 14, 2000 to Hilliard et al for WINDOW ASSEMBLY FOR A MOTOR VEHICLE teaches a window frame into which the window is removably mounted. It appears to be non-analogous.
In addition, the Office has made of record the following additional items of prior art during the prosecution of the parent application hereto:
U.S. Pat. No. 6,629,337 issued October 2003 to Nania; U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,043 issued September 2002 to Vanden Heuvel et al; U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,593 issued January 2001 to Carlson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,347 issued July 1999 to Morawetz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,600,868 issued February 1997 to Tourville et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,311 issued November 1993 to Gard; U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,609 issued December 1991 to Dear; U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,626 issued October 1988 to Seyler; U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,964 issued September 1987 to DeBruyn; U.S. Pat. No. 3,628,216 issued December 1971 to Savell; U.S. Pat. No. 3,594,853 issued July 1971 to Slattery. International patent documents brought to the attention of the applicant by the examiner in the previous application are: DE 3539276 C dated January 1987 in Germany to Freudenber and DE 3423037 A1 dated January 1986 in Germany to Rossie et al.
Essentially one dimensional door motions will normally have one problem or another as previously discussed. The applicant is unaware of any door hinges offering true two dimensional motion, so as to allow the door to open vertically after a brief horizontal motion.
It would be advantageous to provide a two dimensional motion to a vehicle door, to provide a mechanism providing such motion, and to provide range of motion limits and a lag mechanism to control the motion.